DRUGS

At IIFT, we have an NGO attachment thingy..in the last term..
Mine is a drug de-addiction centre. It was an eye-opener to say the least. I mean, this place isnt one of those fancy rehab clinics. Its a depressing, gloomy house. And the patients - with the exception of the girls- live down in a creepy basement.
The first alf an hour were spent in polite small talk with the manager. And it still didnt hit us. Then they took us on a tour of the place.
The two of us followed the manager into a small basement. A motley assortment of people were sitting on the floor, and talking about what they would do if they had Five Crores. The talk seemed normal enough until i realised that there were children there. They couldnt have been more than twelve or thirteen. One could not have been more then eight.
The manager made them all stand up and introduce themselves, tell us what 'nasha' they did..and how they came to be there.
It was horrifying - multiple drug users, people who did IV drugs,Smack, Heroin and Cocaine. Kids from the street, school children, professionals, architects, teachers....
Some of them had had relapses and voluntarily committed themselves again and again. It got me thinking - how desperate their lives must have been to voluntarily return to that place.
Most of all, it made me congratulate their spirit, for living in a place like that would have killed mine.

So definitely, SAY NO TO DRUGS